LGF Health Care needs of
Lesbian & Bisexual Women Report
‘Beyond Babies & Breast Cancer – Expanding our understanding of women’s health needs’ is a report for all those interested in providing appropriate and equitable health services.
DOWNLOADS
‘Beyond Babies & Breast Cancer – Expanding our understanding of women’s health needs’ report
ACTION PLANS
Clinicians
Commissioners
Managers
Researchers
The report has been produced following a large-scale research review of over seventy pieces of research from Britain and across the globe.
It brings together evidence from many different sources including large-scale general population studies, smaller scale community studies and qualitative research to paint a vivid picture of the health needs of lesbian and bisexual women and of their experiences of accessing health care.
The health needs of lesbian and bisexual women are sometimes doubly hidden – both within information on ‘women’s health’ and information on the health needs of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in general. ‘Beyond Babies and Breast Cancer’ is the first large-scale report which tries to bring together evidence to address this invisibility.
As well as bringing together evidence, this report makes five clear over-arching recommendations. These are:
COMMUNICATE in a non-discriminatory way, without making assumptions about sexual orientation, to create a safe and respectful environment for everyone.
MONITOR sexual orientation as part of your equality data and use the findings to inform future plans.
INCLUDE lesbian and bisexual women’s needs in mainstream health information, services, policies and strategies.
TARGET lesbian and bisexual women with specific health information and campaigns.
DEVELOP specialist health and support services for lesbian and bisexual women, their partners and families.
The report is accompanied by four action plans, aimed at Clinicians, Commissioners, Managers, Decision Makers and Researchers, which give practical advice on how these recommendations can be implemented. The report and action plans can be downloaded for free below.
If you would like a paper copy of the report, or have any questions about healthcare for lesbian and bisexual women, please email women@lgf.org.uk or call 0845 3 30 30 30.